Ivan Hernandez’s work in the Hispanic community was key to him getting an invitation from U.S. Rep. Brad Schneider to the State of the Union address earlier this month as the the Illinois Democrat’s guest.

Less than a week before the Feb. 5 address, Schneider asked the 26-year-old Waukegan resident to accompany him to Washington, D.C.

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“I felt proud that I was selected to represent other recipients of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals policy,” Hernandez said.

He is a “Dreamer,” the term used to describe young immigrants without legal residency who were brought to the U.S. years ago by parents or guardians.

In 2005, at the age of 12, Hernandez came to the U.S. from Mexico and today he works at a Waukegan bank.

In 2017, he earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Columbia College of Missouri, which has a campus at College of Lake County.

“A lot of us [Dreamers] also have student loans, and if we don’t have work permits, we can’t work and earn incomes,” he said of dreamers.

Because he has DACA status, Hernandez has a work permit that he used while attending college.

Hernandez is a board member of the Hispanic American Community and Education Services that works with Lake County families to provide education, legal services and health care resources, according to a news release from Schneider’s office.

He is also a member of the Coalición Latinos Unidos de Lake County that offers scholarships for local high school and college students.

While in the nation’s capital, Hernandez said he spoke to U.S. representatives and senators about DACA and what it means to them.

While impressed with the pomp and importance of President Donald Trump’s speech, Hernandez said he was disappointed Trump did not mention DACA.

“It’s a big issue, and we don’t know whether he’ll keep it or do away with it,” he said.

Though Trump did not directly reference DACA, he made spoke on immigration — especially arrivals from south of the U.S. border — as being “a moral issue.”

“The lawless state of our southern border is a threat to the safety, security, and financial well-being of all America,” Trump said in his speech, also attempting to make a case for what he has called a need for a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border.

Trump delivered the address on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives chamber.

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“We have a moral duty to create an immigration system that protects the lives and jobs of our citizens. This includes our obligation to the millions of immigrants living here today who followed the rules and respected our laws. Legal immigrants enrich our nation and strengthen our society in countless ways,” he said.

The president added that immigrants “have to come in legally.”

Schneider said in an email that Trump also disappointed him by not talking about Dreamers in the address because they, like Hernandez, succeed in similar situations.

“While Congress and the president debate the best way to secure our border, we also need to come together for comprehensive immigration reform that grants permanent status and a path to citizenship to Dreamers like Ivan,” Schneider said in the email.

Hernandez said he he remains hopeful, after speaking with leaders in Washington.

“They’re looking into a solution that works in this administration and hope to have something of a more permanent solution,” Hernandez said.